March 2002
President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush
recently signed an
agreement affirming that an $8 billion, 30-year federal plan to
repair the
Everglades will at least partially restore the natural flow of
water
through the wetlands. But environmentalists should not rest easy.
The job
of restoration is being handed over to the entity that was most
responsible
for the problem in the first place: the federal government, and,
in
particular, the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Everglades today receives less than one-third of its
historic water
flow, the water is contaminated by fertilizer and other runoff,
and the
wildlife-rich wetlands are half the size they were when the
federal
government started its draining projects in the 1920s. The story
of the
Everglades epitomizes government programs gone awry. It also
shows that the
private sector, however ambitious, is restricted in the
environmental harms
it can cause. The need to cover costs reduces the potential for
massive
mistakes. Even state governments are limited in the harm they can
cause.
But the federal government is able to override common sense and
cause
environmental havoc.
Related Links:
030102 Who Drained the Everglades? The Same Folks Who Are Now Restoring Them; REPORT
Page Last Updated: 02/06/2003